Can emptying and flattening machine



F. 1. COURTNEY.

CAN EMPTYINGAND FLATTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATI ON FILED NOV. 4, I919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ATTORNEY F. J. COURTNEY.-

CAN EMPTYING AND FLATTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR from/f d. ourfney ATTORNEY F. J. COURTNEY.

CAN EMPTYING. AND FLATTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. I919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

w W mu I n on I mmlmmm w E mn E.

n n m vn fl l l n A A I D D A wlllll A R on $0 INVENTOR flan/f J. Loaf/0a ATTORNEY F J COURTNEY CAN EMPTYING AND FLATTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATLON FILED NOV. 4, 1919 INVENTOR flan/f d. oar/06y W ATTORN EY F.J. COURTNEY.

CAN EMPTYING AND FLATTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION F ILED NOV. 4, 1919.

Patented May 1921.

' 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

INVENTOR (iv/2K J. buff/2g ATTORNEY UNITED STATES FRANK J. COURTNEY, OFSEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

CAN EMPTYING AND FLATTENING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Application filed November 4, 1919. Serial No. 335,582

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. COURTNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of lV-ashington,have invented a certain new and useful Can Emptying and FlatteningMachine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of can emptying and can flatteningmachinery, and more particularly to machinery designed to cut arectangular metallic can on its end or ends so as to empty the said canand to fold said can into a flat form.

The can flattening and emptying devices as heretofore designed have notmade efficient and suitable provision either for the smooth cutting ofthe edges of the can' so as to avoid distorting said edges or for theprompt or quick emptying of said cans after said edges are cut, saidemptying not being subject to control so as to prevent objectionablesplashing about of the liquid contents. Moreover if the edges, of theend of a can are jammed or distorted, such devices as heretoforedesigned have not been adapted to operate upon said cans.

The objectof my invention is to provide a device which will cut the endof a rectangular can on three sides in a smooth or clean cut manner,control the emptying of said can by subjecting the contents to a suctionforce while said contents are being removed from the can so that thecontents are not splashed about, and which will fold, flatten, trim, andcount said cans. Furthermore, another pri mary object of my invention isto provide an improved cutter, having a continuous cutting edge and alsoan improved cutter having a continuous cutting edge and trimming meansdesigned to operate on cans whose edges are distorted or jammed.

The above general objects of my invention, together with others inherentin the same are obtained by the mechanism illustrated in the followingdrawings, the same being merely a preferred exemplary form of embodimentof my invention throughout which drawings like reference numeralsindicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a View of one end in elevation of said device;

Fig.3 is a View of the opposite end in elevation of said device;

Fig. 4 is a plan view on broken line 4, 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on broken line 5, 5 of Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is a View of a modified form of the upper portion of my devicehaving trimmer knives disposed above the flattening rollers;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the box-cutter;

Fig. 8 is a top view of the box cutter;

Fig. 9 is an end view of a rectangular can with the three edges cut andready to have said end folded inwardly:

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a can with the two ends cut and partlyfolded in toward one side;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a can with the ends folded back againstone side as placed by the roller pushers;

Fig. 12 is a view of a can after being completely folded, and

Fig. 13 is a view of a modified form of a cutter embodying my invention.

Two members 14 and 15 form a guideway in which each box-cutter l6 and17, consisting of the knife 18 and the box part 19, may move back andforth, said members 14 and 15 having midway of their length an opening20 and 21 in which are pivotally mounted crushing members 22 and 23.(Figs. 1 and 5.) These members do not meet along thelr lower edges-sothat an opening 24 is provided through which the liquid contents of thecan to be emptied may escape, and they also have perforations 25 for thesame purpose. The members 14 and 15 are supported by the frame part 26at each end of the machine. The said frame part 26 supports under saidbox-cutters 16 and 17 a wheel 27 having cams 28and 29 which serve toactuate rods 30 and 31 which have roller bearings pivotally connected tothe rods 46 and 47 which are in turn pivotally connected to thebox-cutters. 16 and 17 so that said cutters may be caused to moveforward and back ward.

A chute 48 serves to conduct the full cans 96, which are to be operatedupon, to the crushing members 22 and 23, and the tripper 49, Fig. 5'with its finger 50 disposed to engage a cam hereinafter described andits retracting spring 51 serves to feed the cans to the machineperiodicall one by one. A counting mechanism 52 with its trigger 53serves to register the number of cans fed to the machine. A conveyer 54,Fig. 2 carries the cans 96 to chute 48. Flattening rollers 55,preferably armed with sharp gripping teeth at their ends, are positionedabove the crushing members 22 and 23 and serve to complete thecollapsing operation so that the walls of the can 96 are pressed tightagainst each other. The said rollers 55 also serve to remove the can 96from the said crushing-members. The deflector 56 directs the folded can96 away from the machine. On the outside of each of the crushing members22 and 23 is formed a curved wing 57 and 58 against which is caused tobear periodically cams 59 and 60 respectively, said cams being mountedupon shafts 61 and 62, on the opposite extremity of which are fixedsuitable gears 63 and 64 to actuate said cams whereby the crushingmembers may be moved forward after the ends of the can 96 are properlycut to partially flatten the can and push it upward so as to cause it tobe gripped by the flattening rollers 55. Springs 65 and 66 retract thecrush ing members 22 and 23.

he box-cutters 16 and 17 (Figs. 6 and 7) are each provided with a threesided cutting edge, two of which sides are disposed at right angles tothe other with a foremost point at 67 from which foremost point thecutting edge slopes evenly from said point to the edges 68 and 69 andthen evenly on each side 70 and 71 so that a continuous cutting edge isprovided from the said point to the lateral edges of the side oppositelydisposed to said point. Roller 72 disposed at the end of rod 73 providedwith a spring 74 is preferably. caused to bear against that portion ofthe can nearest the uncut side 75. Where the cans to be flattened havebut'one end to be cut obviously, one cutter only would be necessary.

Suitable power connection is afforded through pulley 76 secured to shaft77 on the opposite end of which is the bevel gear 78 intermeshing withbevel gear 79 on shaft 80. Upon said shaft 80 there is mounted the wheel27 with itscams 28 and 29. Also, on shaft 77 is the sprocket wheel 81over which a chain 82 passes to make connection with the small sprocketwheel 83, mounted on the end of one of the flattening rollers 55.Furthermore, on shaft 77 is mounted the gear 84 which meshes with gear85 mounted upon shaft 61 'which in turn carries cam 59. Moreover, onshaft 61 is the gear 86 meshing with gear 87 which bears the sprocketwheel 88 over which a chain 89 passes to operate the conveyer 54.

In Fig. 6 is shown two rotary knives 90 and 91 mounted above theflattening rollers 55 disposed to trim the edges of the flattened can.These edges are usually irregular, having a large amount of solderadhering to them so that they must be removed, before the tin of, thecan 96 can be reused. At the same time the said solder can be recoveredand reused.

In the modified form of box cutter Fig. 13, I provide on the side whichis to leave one side of the can uncut, two short cutting points 92 and93 the outside edges 94 and 95 of which points lie in the same plane asdo the sides 70 and 71. These cutting points 92 and 93 serve to true upthe can 96 and partially cut the fourth side on its margins.

The mode of operation of my device is as follows: The cams 28 and 29 arecaused to bear against the bearings 32 and 33, thereby gradually forcingback the rods 30 and 31 so that the bottom part of the levers 36 and 37is pushed outwardly, and the top part of said levers is forced inwardly,thereby actuating the boX-cutters 16 and 17 in the operation of cuttingagainst the ends of a can in the trough. The form of the cams 28 and 29,it will be observed, is such that they will cause the said box-cuttersto move slowly while actually cutting the ends of the can, but whiledoing this the cams are working against the springs 34 and 35. By thuscausing the force utilized in actuating the cutters to be opposed Iproduce a steady, even force which co6perates with my new form of cutterto produce a smooth clean cut edge at the end of the can. When thebearings 32 and 33 have reached the end' of the curved surface of thecams, obviously the rods 30 and 31 will be urged by the springs 34 and35 with great force toward the center of the wheel 27 and, then as thewheel 27 turns, the said cams will slowly force them outward again as anew can is to be operated upon. When the springs force the rods 30 and31 inwardly they jerk the box-cutters 16 and 17 away from the end of thecan'and thereby create a suction v on the liquid contents of the canwhich removes the contents with force and yet does not cause or allowthe said contents to be unduly splashed about. A small hole 97 in theend 'of the box-cutter is of suflicient size to allow the airwithinthebox-like part of the cutter to escape as the cutter slowlyenters the end of the can (slowly as compared. to the backward movementof the said cutter) but said hole is not so large as to prevent thecreation of a suitable vacuum to induce the suction influence upon therapid backward movement of the cutter. The liquid contents are thusquickly and promptly removed upon the completionof the cutting of theends of the can, and allowed to pass down through the opening 24 tosuitable collecting pans not shown. Vents 25 assist in letting the oilescape from the guideway and crushing members. So soon as the threesides of the can are entirely out, the spring operated rollers 72 pushin the ends thereby assisting in emptying the liquid contents into thebox portion 19 of the cutter and so soon as this phase of the operationis well under way, the box cutter is withdrawn inducing the suctionabove described. The operation of the knives is timed by the positioningof the cams 28 and 29 so as to cause one end to be out just a little inadvance of the other end so as to prevent the can ends meeting and beingjammed against one another as they are folded inwardly. 'lhereupon, thecams 59 and 60 press upwardly the crushing members 22 and 23 whichpartially flatten the can and cotiperate with the suction force abovedescribed in emptying the can. Moreover, these said crushing members, incrushing the can cause it to extend upwardly so that the can comes intoengagement with the flattening rollers 55. These rollers complete theflattening of the can and also serve to remove the can from the crushingmembers 22 and 23. When the edge trimming knives 90 and 91 are provided,Fig. 13, the said rollers 55 further serve to force the can through saidknives whereby the irregular edges are removed leaving a smooth edgedplate of tin ready for baling. The speed of the rollers 55 is such thatthe flattened can is ejected withforce striking deflector 56 so as tofall away from the machine on a conveyer.

After the crushing members 22 and 23 have delivered the can to theflattening rollers 55, the springs 65 and 66 cause the said members toresume their inactive position in the openings 20 and 21. As the cam 59turns it engages the finger 50 of the tripper l9, which allows anotherfull can to slide down upon the crushing members 22 and 23 to be in turnout and emptied. The spring 51 causes the tripper 4:9 to catch the nextcan and hold it until the cam 59 reengages the finger 50. The countingmechanism 52 is positioned where it registers the cans in the lastposition before being operated upon.

By providing the box-part 19 of the cutter with the continuous cuttingedge sloping evenly from the point 67 to the sideopposite, I furtherprovide an improved cutter that makes a smooth, clean cut edge and isparticularly efficient conjunction with the suction control of thecontents provided during the act of emptying the cans by the boxpart ofthe cutter. In the modified and preferred form of cutter, Fig. 13 thecutting Joints 92 and 93 function in conjunction with the other portionsof the cutting edge as a truing die, so that the edges of the ends ofthe .can are caused to be straightened.

Obviously, changes may be made in the form, dimensions, and arrangementsof the parts of my invention without departing from the principlesthereof, the above setting forth only a preferred form of embodiment.

I claim:

1. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a three sidedcutter disposed to move to and from a can to out said can on threesides, two crushing members normally assuming a V-shaped position tohold a rectangular can on edge while said cutter is operating, and meansto cause said crushing members to close together whereby the can isflattened.

2. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a three sidedcutter disposed to move to and from a can to out said can on threesides, two crushing members normally assuming a V-shaped position tomove to and from a can to out said can on' three sides, two crushingmembers normally assuming a V-shaped position to hold a rectangularcanon edge while said cutter is operating, and means to cause saidcrushing members to close together whereby the can is flattened.

4. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a box-cutterdisposed to move to and from a can to out said can on three sides, twocrushing members normally assuming a V-sha-ped position to hold arectangular can on edge while said cutter is operating, means to causesaid crushing members to close together whereby the can is partlyflattened, and two flattening rollers disposed to receive the partiallyflattened can, draw said can up and complete the flattening operation.

5. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a box-cutterdisposed to move slowly toward a can to out said can on three sides andto withdraw quickly to create a suction on the contents of the canwhereby said contents are quickly removed, two crushing members normallyassuming a V- shaped position to hold a rectangular can on edge whilesaid cutter in operating, and

means to cause said crushing members to close together whereby the canis flattened.

6. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a box-cutterdisposed to move slowly toward a can to out said can on three sides andto withdraw quickly to create a suction on the contents of the canwhereby said contents are quickly removed, two crushing members normallyassuming a V-shaped position to hold a rectangular can on edge whilesaid cutter is operating, means to cause said crushing members. to closetogether whereby the can is partly flattened, and two flattening rollersdisposed to receive the partially flattened can, drawsaid can up andcomplete the flattening operation.

7-. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a three sidedcutter which cutter has two continuous cutting edges, said cutter beingdisposed to move to and from a can to out said can on three sides, twocrushing members normally'assuming a V-shaped position to hold arectangular can on edge while said cutter is operating, and means tocausesaid crushing members to close together whereby the can isflattened.

8. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying a three sidedcutter which cutter has two continuous cutting edges, said cutter beingdisposed to move to and from a can to out said can on three sides, two

. crushing members normally assuming a V- shaped position to hold arectangular can on edge while said cutter is operating, means to causesaid crushing members to close together whereby the. can is partlyflattened, and two flattening rollers disposedto receive the partiallyflattened can, draw said can up and com lete the flattening operation.

9. A mac ine for flattening rectangular cans, two box cutters each ofwhich cutters has two continuous cuttingedges, said outters beingdisposed to move slowly while cutting said can on three'sides of eachend and to withdraw quickly whereby is created a suction on the"contents of the can and whereby said contents are quickly removed,

two crushing members normally assuming a- V-shaped position to hold arectangular can on edge while said cutter is operating, and

means to cause said crushing-members to close together whereby the canis flattened. 10. A machine for flattening rectangular cans, two boxcutters each of which cutters has two continuous cutting edges, saidoutters being disposed to move slowly while cutting said can onthreesides of each end and to withdraw quickly whereby is created a suctionon the contents of the can and whereby said contents are quicklyremoved,

t'wo crushing members normally assuming a- V-shaped osition to hold arectangular can on edge w ile said cutter is operating, means to causesaid crushing members to close together whereby the can is partlyflattened, and two flattening rollers disposed to receive the partiallyflattened can, draw said can up and complete the flattening operation.

11. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying two three sidedcutters each of which cutters has two continuous cutting edges, saidcutters being disposed to move to' and from a can to out eachend of saidcan completely on three sides, a roller bearing against each of said canends whereby said ends are forced inwardly, two crushing membersnormally assuming a V-shaped position to hold a rectangular can on edgewhile said cutter is operating, and means to cause said crushing membersto close together whereby the can is flattened.

12. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying two three sidedcutters each of which cutters has two continuous cutting edges, saidcutters being disposed to move to and from a can to cut each end of saidcan completely on three sides, a roller bearing against each of said canendswhereby saidends are forced inwardly, twolcrushing members normallyassuming a V-shaped position .to hold a rectangular can on edge whilesaid cutter is operating, means to cause said crushing members to closeto gether whereby the can is partly flattened, and two flatteningrollers disposed to receive the partially flattened can, draw said canup and complete the flattening operation.

13. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying two three sidedcutters each of which cutters has two continuous cutting edges, saidcutters'being disposed to move to and from a can to out each end of saidcan completely on three sides, said cutter having two truing cutterpoints on the fourth side, a roller bearing against each of said canends whereby said ends are forced inwardly, two crushing membersnormally assuming a V-shaped position to hold a rectangular can on edgewhile said cutter is operating, and means to cause said crushing membersto close together whereby the can is flattened.

' 14. A machine for flattening rectangular cans embodying two threesided cutters each of which cutters has two continuous cutting edges,said cutters being disposed to move to and from a can to out each end ofsaid can completely on three sides, said cutter having two truing cutterpoints on the fourth side, a roller bearing against each of said canends whereby said ends are forced inwardly, two crushing membersnormally assuming a V-shaped position to hold a rectangular can on edgewhile said cutter is disposed to receive the partially flattened can,draw said can up and complete the flattening operation.

15. In combination with a can flattening machine, a box-cutter having athree sided cutting edge but said edge is formed sloping from a singlepoint whereby is provided a cutter having in final effect two continuouscutting edges.

16. In combination with a can flattening machine, a box-cutter having athree sided cutting edge but said edge is formed sloping from a singlepoint whereby is provided a cutter having in final effect two continuouscutting edges, and said cutter having two truing cutter points on thefourth side.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 30th day ofOctober, A. D.

FRANK J. COURTNEY.

